The northern foot of the Cambie Street Bridge could have a sleek-looking ‘gateway’ building if a new development proposal by Concord Pacific receives its necessary approvals.

The developer has submitted a formal application to construct a 288-foot-tall (88-metre) residential tower with 29 storeys at 89 Nelson Street, a site formerly used as a parking lot. The aptly-named ‘Arc’ building, designed by Vancouver-based Francl Architecture, features two towers nearly identical in height with a curvy form that bends inwards and outwards.

An eight-storey platform bridges the two buildings at the top, providing the crisp and clean-looking design with its most recognizable architectural element.

According to the rezoning application, a total of 588 residential units are planned for the project’s upper floors while the ground floor will be purposed for commercial purposes like retail and restaurant space. There will also be 520 underground parking spaces for the project.

During an event held Monday evening, local developer Westbank Projects Corporation provided West End neighbourhood residents with a preview of Kuma’s Japanese-inspired design for a slender 40-storey residential tower at 1550 Alberni Street. The scale and concept of the tower abides to the City’s view cone policy and West End Community Plan.

Kuma’s tower design features curving ‘carved deductions’ on the lower half of the northeast corner and upper half of the southwest corner. The facade will be made of a combination of glass and polished anodized aluminum to provide the structure with an almost chequered appearance – shades of Kuma’s FRAC Marseille in France and Bjarke Ingels’ Vancouver House, also by Westbank, on the other side of the downtown peninsula.

A total of 188 residential units are proposed for the building, with many units within the carved deductions possessing substantially sized patios or what project proponents have termed as ‘open gardens’. Interior materials will include the heavy use of wood and bamboo.

Retail space and a restaurant will be located at the tower’s foot, along with a highly unique public amenity – a ground-level Japanese moss garden within a hollowed section of the building, with water and natural features built along the face of an amphitheatre-like, cascading plateau.

More info in link above.

Here's the first pic of this project. Hope to get bigger and better pics soon...

From this story (where I got the pic) there is going to be another stylized building right across from it designed by local architect James Cheng and right by this potential building as well. It will be pretty crazy down West Georgia if all these projects get built.

Another architectural gem proposed for the Georgia Street corridor in downtown Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood could help shake off Vancouver’s reputation of having an urban jungle of bland architecture.

Artistic renderings obtained by Vancity Buzz from Westbank Projects Corporation provide a first look at the design of an impressive tower at 1550 Alberni Street that was first revealed to the public during a neighbourhood event in late-June.

The slender 40-storey residential tower was designed by Japanese starchitect Kengo Kuma and consists of striking ‘carved deductions’ on the lower half of the northeast corner and upper half of the southwest corner. The facade will be formed by a combination of glass and polished anodized aluminum to provide the structure with an almost chequered appearance, similar to Kuma’s FRAC Marseille in France and Bjarke Ingels’ Vancouver House, another Westbank development.

A total of 188 residential units are proposed for the building, with many units within the carved deductions possessing substantially sized patios or what project proponents have termed as ‘open gardens’. Interior materials will include the heavy use of wood and bamboo.

Retail space and a restaurant will be located at the tower’s foot, along with a highly unique public amenity – a ground-level Japanese moss garden within a hollowed section of the building, with water and natural features built along the face of an amphitheatre-like, cascading plateau.

Another proposed skyscraper with a distinct architectural flair, designed by internationally renowned Vancouver-based Bing Thom Architects (BTA), could help shake up downtown Vancouver’s mundane skyline.

First Baptist Church on the northwest corner of Burrard and Nelson streets has partnered with Westbank Projects Corporation to revitalize the 1911-completed church building while also expanding the congregation’s outreach and initiatives within the local community.

The 552,164-square-foot project will be built on the church’s ground level parking lot and consists of three main components: a 550-foot-tall, 56-storey tower with 295 market residential units within the upper floors and community amenities in the lower floors; a 70-foot-tall, 8-storey rental building with 75 ‘below market rate’ housing units, for older adults and seniors, owned and managed by the church; and a complete restoration and seismic upgrade of the existing historic church building.

The entire scope of the project’s new-build spans 552,164 square feet, with a floor-square-ratio of 10.88 FSR. The expanded church space would include a new childcare with 30 spaces and hub for the church’s associated volunteers and social services, such as Haro Park Centre Society and Kinbrace Refugee Housing.

A long two-lane swimming pool will be built into the third floor of the tower facing the adjacent Robert Lee YMCA building.

More info and pics in the link above.

Also, this project is going to be on the same block as the "Pixelated Crown" tower I posted about earlier. Going to be one impressive block of high rises...

A stack of irregularly shaped wooden boxes, resembling a contemporary pagoda with open and public spaces, has been unveiled as the design for the new Vancouver Art Gallery building at Larwill Park in downtown Vancouver.

The 230-foot-tall building designed by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron is a sculpture in itself given the striking design that provides an immense contrast with all existing built forms in the city.

Following an international competition, Herzog & de Meuron was selected in April 2014 for its vast experience with designing world renown museums, including London’s Tate Modern and Basel’s Schaulager. It was also behind the design for Beijing’s Bird Nest Stadium.

The project has a total floor area of 310,000 square feet, including 85,000 square feet of exhibition space – more than twice the existing space found at the old Robson Square courthouse building.

The building will be built on stilts ‘suspended’ over a massive 40,000 square foot public open courtyard and lobby with a sunken garden that is accessible from all sides of the city block.

Escalators lead to the exhibition spaces and a 350-seat auditorium on the second and third levels. More exhibition space is located on the fifth, sixth and seventh levels while a restaurant will occupy the fourth floor.

a) Galleries as a building typeology are generally horizontal to facilitate walking, vistas and top lit galleries, it can be challenging to encourage people to go up to upper floor galleries - though escalators will help.

b) This project does not appear to be able to be built in phases - big problem if funding is not there - which it is not (according to the report only 73M of the cost has been raised, including 50M provincial govt funding).

Perhaps Fed govt may provide matching funding, and possibly also the City, but that still leaves a funding shortfall of 170M or so. Vancouver may have many very wealthy residents but they are not as renowned for their generosity as say in Toronto.

c) the forecourt of the 1950s Queen Elizabeth Hall appears proposed to be redesigned rather than retained and integrated - Vancouver's "mid-century modern" community may have something to say about this.

If BC/Vancouver wants to have a serious international standard gallery, three levels of government support are needed and each will need to contribute approx $100M each, otherwise a less ambitious design is needed, perhaps one which can be built in stages.

A company that caters to the world's wealthiest people is setting up shop in B.C.'s biggest city. As Ted Chernecki reports, the arrival of Engle & Völkers is just another sign of how many high rollers call Vancouver home.

The western half of the city block surrounded by Pacific, Richards, Drake, and Homer Streets is currently seeing a total revamp, as the low-rise structures that previously stood there have been demolished to make way for two brand new residential towers. A photo update provided by our Forum members shows both structures making their way towards street level.

Recent photos show the buildings topped out and almost fully clad. The wavy facade is meant to mimic the waterfront, according to architects IBI Group. The steel and concrete frame where the cantilevered pool will be located is easily visible in the image below.

Proponents of an upcoming major tower development at the intersection of West Georgia and West Pender streets in downtown Vancouver are hoping to take the project to new heights.

A 515-foot-tall (157-metre-tall) mixed-use building is being considered for a triangular-shaped site on the east side of the prominent intersection by the flagpoles. There will be 250,000 square feet of residential floor area within the relatively slender 44-storey structure.

The unnamed project is being spearheaded by Hong Kong-based Brilliant Circle Group and designed by James Cheng, the local architect behind some of Vancouver’s largest skyscrapers such as the Fairmont Pacific Rim, Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver, and Shaw Tower.

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of the proposed tower at 1455 West Georgia Street.

Only in Vancouver. Conflicting city policies have forced developers to downsize an architectural landmark tower on the fringes of downtown Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood.

The height of the proposed Jenga-like tower at 1500 West Georgia, on the same block as the Rhone and Iredale-designed triangular office building, has been cut down from 500 feet (152 metres) as originally proposed to 436 feet (133 metres) – from 51 storeys to 43 storeys.

This is the design that features protruding boxes of different lengths and sizes jutting out of the building to provide the building with an iconic look, suitable for its location at the ‘entrance’ into Vancouver from the Lions Gate Bridge.

The design of the tower is a collaboration between two architectural firms: Montreal’s ACDF Architecture, which also designed the casino-hotel entertainment complex next to B.C. Place Stadium, and IBI Group Architects.

On the Hornby Street facade, triangulated balconies – seemingly punctured into the building envelope – will act as an extension of the interior space while also adding texture to the exterior. The perimeter of the facade will be wrapped by brushed stainless steel to “accentuate the colour of the sky, giving the tower a delicate silhouette” and white stone will be used as the trim for the horizontal bands that form the balconies.

For the ground level facade, rectangular angled columns pay homage to the small single-family houses that the area was once known for. As a symbolic extension of the adjacent “Leslie House,” the columns will be made of horizontal corten steel that age over time.

Only in Vancouver. Conflicting city policies have forced developers to downsize an architectural landmark tower on the fringes of downtown Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood.

The height of the proposed Jenga-like tower at 1500 West Georgia, on the same block as the Rhone and Iredale-designed triangular office building, has been cut down from 500 feet (152 metres) as originally proposed to 436 feet (133 metres) – from 51 storeys to 43 storeys.

This is the design that features protruding boxes of different lengths and sizes jutting out of the building to provide the building with an iconic look, suitable for its location at the ‘entrance’ into Vancouver from the Lions Gate Bridge.

Another great tower cut short. Seems like Vancouver does not want to grow up. Quite literally. Are those new renders after the height "snip" ?

Another great tower cut short. Seems like Vancouver does not want to grow up. Quite literally. Are those new renders after the height "snip" ?

That's correct, those renders are with the new height. The City Council is very strict about height in the downtown area interrupting views of the mountains from the city. I think Vancouver will never see a megatall building in downtown and cities in the metro area like Burnaby or Surrey will have them first.

A new student residence building at the University of British Columbia’s Point Grey campus will become a living experiment as part of an effort to demonstrate the economic and structural feasibility of wood-based construction.

Last fall, construction began on the university’s so-called Tall Wood Building, a 53-metre-tall (174-foot), 18-storey high-rise building made primarily out of wood. When complete in summer 2017, just in time for the new school year, the building will be the tallest mass wood building in the world.

The project is designed by Vancouver-based Acton Ostry Architects, with Austria’s Architekten Hermann Kaufmann as tall wood advisors, is expected to cost $51.5 million.

The 162,700-square-foot building is the first phase of the Brock Commons Student Residence complex, situated on a vacant site immediately north of the North Parkade on Walter Gage Road.

Amenity and study spaces will be found on the main floor while 408 beds for upper year and graduate students will occupy the upper floors. The residence units will be a mix of single-bed studios and four-bed quad units, with both space options built with kitchen components and bathrooms.